Methods are known which enable the user to analyse a system structure in order to establish where in the sequence of system steps hold-ups may occur. Examples of these are GANT charts or PERT software which provide an analysis based on critical path analysis. They do not provide any guidance to the user on how to begin identifying the steps in the task.
In performing a task it is very often the case that a large amount of time is wasted performing unnecessary steps or concentrating on relatively unimportant or simple steps while avoiding, or spending too little time on, steps that warrant the greater attention. It is human nature to spend a lot of time and attention on those steps in the performance of a task that are more interesting or reflect the strengths of the particular operative. If those strengths coincide with the steps requiring the most detail the result is likely to be satisfactory. However, when a task is multi-disciplinary in nature or slightly outside the experience of the operative, the operative either tends to concentrate on his or her relative strengths or is unable to define where the greater effort should be expended.
It is possible to address this by using a multi-disciplinary team, but this still requires an ability to identify the significant areas for which a team member is warranted. In the execution of a large and complex task this may be a necessary aspect of the identification of a task-step and its performance. However, on a smaller scale or at the initial stages of defining the steps in a task this can involve a heavy drain on employee time at a stage when the task concerned may not justify such input.
The person defining a task could usefully use a tool that would assist him or her in taking a logical course through the identification and definition of the steps themselves necessary in performing a particular task.
Furthermore, when a task has been set up it is useful, often essential, to monitor the progress of a task according to the status of each task step. Thus, it would also be advantageous for the user to have a tool that would enable him or her to track the progress of a task and its constituent steps.